Chlamydastis christerhanssoni Phillips and Brown, 2021

Phillips-Rodríguez, Eugenie, Brown, John W., Hallwachs, Winnie & Janzen, Daniel H., 2021, Chlamydastis Meyrick of Costa Rica: barcodes, biology, and descriptions of 36 new species (Lepidoptera: Depressariidae), Insecta Mundi 2021 (868), pp. 1-96 : 20-22

Chlamydastis christerhanssoni Phillips and Brown , new species

Figures 17 , 64 , 102

Holotype. Male, Costa Rica, Puntarenas, Area de Conservación Osa, Los Charcos , 1 km E de Banegas, 50 m, 6.x.2010, E. Phillips, INB0004269420, GenBank accession code MH827049 ( MNCR-A).

Paratypes (15♂, 1♀). See Appendix 1.

Diagnosis. Chlamydastis christerhanssoni is most similar to C. carlosviquezi , but the two can be differentiated easily by the male genitalia. In C. christerhanssoni the distal end of the valva is conspicuously truncate, whereas in C. carlosviquezi it is pointed with a rounded, subapical concavity.

Description. MALE ( Fig. 15 ). Head. Frons and vertex white; labial palpus mostly cream with first segment and basal 0.5 of second segment brownish, third segment cream with a narrow brownish ring at base; antenna with sensory setae ca. 1.5 times width of flagellomere. Thorax. Dorsum and tegula whitish with scattered light brown scales. FW length 10.7–12.2 mm; FW ground color pale cream with irregular grayish brown striations; four small gray marks along costa at ca. 0.10, 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 distance from base to apex, progressively larger from base to apex; an irregular black blotch at end of discal cell; a similarly colored small mark from hind margin ca. 0.25 distance from base to tornus; a small patch of raised brownish scales at hind margin ca. 0.1 distance from base to tornus. HW pale grayish brown. Abdomen. Externally pale brown. Genitalia ( Fig. 64 ) with uncus moderately long, slender; gnathos arms slender, curved; valva with narrow-elongate, subrectangular dorsal part with a truncate apex bearing dense patch of specialized setae, and large triangular basal part (sacculus) bearing dense, long hairpencil; lateral processes of juxta broad, subrectangular; phallus with internal sclerite extending beyond irregular apical extension bearing a sparsely dentate edge.

FEMALE. Head and Thorax. Essentially as described for male, except sensory setae of antenna short, sparse, FW length 12.8–14.9 mm. Abdomen. Genitalia ( Fig. 102) with papillae anales slightly narrowed and diverging posteriorly; ostial area with broadly triangular, sclerotized flap; weakly sclerotized ductus bursae broadened to membranous corpus bursae; signum a small, irregularly sclerotized patch.

DNA barcodes. The 6 barcode sequences of C. christerhanssoni form a BIN (BOLD:ABU8388) with an average distance of 0.05% among the sequences and a distance of 4.01% to its nearest neighbor, C. carlosviquezi .

Distribution. Chlamydastis christerhanssoni has been collected in the southern Pacific lowlands of Costa Rica.

Biology. Larval hosts and immatures remain unknown.

Etymology. Chlamydastis christerhanssoni is named in honor of Christer Hansson in recognition of his taxonomic contributions to the national biodiversity inventory of Costa Rica.

Phytoptera Species Group

In Costa Rica, the Phytoptera Species Group is composed of five species: C. phytoptera (Meyrick) , C. christhompsoni , C. paulhansoni , C. elenaulateae , and C. gladysrojasae . Other species in this group are C. hemichlora ( Meyrick, 1916) from French Guiana, illustrated by Clarke (1955: 188); C. scutellata ( Meyrick, 1916) from French Guiana, illustrated by Clarke (1955: 203); and C. chlorosticta (Meyrick, 1913) from Perú, illustrated by Clarke (1955: 183). The five species found in Costa Rica share similar male genitalia with a long, slender uncus; a well-developed gnathos; an ovate, somewhat “veined” valva (an arrangement of sclerotized lines vaguely like veins of a leaf or wing) (less developed and/or inconspicuous in C. phytoptera and C. christhompsoni ), usually with a rounded apex; and a short, triangular or rounded sacculus with a free distal end, confined to the basal 0.15–0.30 of the valva. The specialized setae of the male originate as a dense bundle from near the middle of the costa of the valva. Females have a patch of tiny teeth along the inner margin of the papillae anales; a long, slender ductus bursae that is equal to or longer than the corpus bursae; and a subrectangular to oblong, spiny signum unsclerotized in a narrow region through its middle. The five species can be separated into two groups based on facies: one group ( C. phytoptera and C. christhompsoni ) is characterized by the presence of a dark rounded spot near the middle of the termen, whereas the other group ( C. gladysrojasae , C. paulhansoni , and C. elenaulateae ) is characterized by subtle longitudinal dark scaling along the veins without conspicuous forewing markings; both groups have variably developed, usually ill-defined areas of green scales. Some of the Costa Rican species can be distinguished by the color of the scales on the vertex of the head: white in C. phytoptera , fawn-brown in C. paulhansoni and C. elenaulateae , and dark brown in C. gladysrojasae .

Figures

Figures 16–22. Adults of Chlamydastis from Costa Rica – Mendoron and Phytoptera Species Groups. 16) C. carlosviquezi, holotype, male, 09-SRNP-107366. 17) C. christerhanssoni, holotype, male, INBIOCRI000844209. 18) C. phytoptera, male, 12-SRNP-105632. 19) C. christhompsoni, male, holotype, 09-SRNP-20126. 20) C. paulhansoni, male, holotype, INB0004269422.21) C. elenaulateae, female, paratype, 03-SRNP-10412.22) C. gladysrojasae, female, paratype, 06-SRNP-109148.

Figures 57–64. Male genitalia (phallus detached) of Chlamydastis from Costa Rica – Curviliniella and Mendoron SpeciesGroups.57) C.anniapicadoae,paratype,INBIOCRI0004263586.58) C.antonioazofeifai,paratype,09-SRNP- 103461. 59) C. marianofigueresi, holotype, 16-SRNP-105662 (USNM 153,780) (phallus INBIOCRI002183316). 60) C. colleenhitchcockae, holotype, 97-SRNP-1651. 61) C. bernardoespinozai, paratype, 10-SRNP-104626. 62) C. bobandersoni, paratype, 09-SRNP-111006. 63) C. carlosviquezi, paratype, INBIOCRI000616538. 64) C. christerhanssoni, paratype, INBIOCRI000788466.

Figures 9–15. Adults of Chlamydastis from Costa Rica – Curviliniella Species Group. 9) C. anniapicadoae, holotype, male, INB0003545350. 10) C. antonioazofeifai, holotype, male, INB0003317783. 11) C. mignondavisae, holotype female, USNMENT 01480465. 12) C. marianofigueresi, paratype female, 16-SRNP-105464. 13) C. colleenhitchcockae, holotype male, 97-SRNP-1651. 14) C. bernardoespinozai, holotype, male, 09-SRNP-107481. 15) C. bobandersoni, paratype, male, INBIOCRI001138251.